american dreamin'
by lydiamartins
Summary: She spins down the drain, falling deeper. —claire/derrick.


**Sure, they had all met their soul mates in eighth grade. They just didn't end up with each other. -claire/derrick/massie/cam one-shot-**

for **anushka. **

**un beta-d** again. (just that lazy).

also, i think that i might be doing more one-shots until sunday.

**please review!** thanks for all your review on _crescendo._

_please don't favorite without reviewing._

::

**Claire Lyons**, with her innocent carefree smile, and those beautiful blond tresses that dangle with her choppy bangs on her acne-free forehead and those gorgeous fluorescent blue eyes, has always wanted to _fly_.

Instead, she **falls.**

::

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step (just lift your wings and **fly** until the second star at midnight).

::

The first time that Claire met the **Wicked Witch of Westchester**, she jumped to conclusions, and assumed that Massie Block made everybody's life a living hell. The Witch was beautiful on the outside, and hideous on the inside, but that's the only way she stayed on top. At first, Claire didn't mind not being beautiful -at least she had a sweet personality that wasn't faked-.

Then,** Derrick Harrington** waltzed into their lives, and _nothing_ was ever the same again.

::

It was around the time when Massie was just warming up to Claire, seemingly giving the fashion-don't-even-think-about-it LBR a second chance.

Orchestra.

The time where nerds and geeks and populars and loners and freaks all meet up in one spot to make music together. The basses were generally tall boys who everybody generally avoided, because one of them was rumored to be mentally unstable. The cello's consisted of three gir-

None of that mattered.

All that mattered was the violins.

It was composed of only girls -the **pretty** girls-.

Claire wanted to be like the first violins, with their

_**[skinny collarbones]**_

_[tiny tiny oh-so-tiny waists]_

[nonexistent stomachs]

Why couldn't she be perfect, just like them? Mr. Newick, the orchestra instructor appointed her the position of second chair in the first violins, right behind "i'm-always-first-chair" Massie Block.

It was a just another place in which Claire would always be second-best to Massie Block.

_(It was at times like these where Claire forgot how fake Massie is.)_

A flurry of notes and then a sudden halt. "Class, we have a new student." A shaggy brown-haired boy with gorgeous brown eyes walked into the classroom, with a violin case in his right hand. His pearly whites were displayed with a gleaming smile.

Massie immediately pinched Claire.

Claire didn't notice. She was too busy realizing that the new student was smiling at _**her.**_

::

Massie sat at the end of the lunch table, but close enough to hear the conversations of the boys. "Dude, just tell her that you like her." Josh told Derrick.

Massie's heartbeat quickened. Was he talking about her? "I can't. She's just...so perfect. She'll reject me."

Cam spoke up. "I've dated her. I can help you if you want."

Wait, what? Cam hadn't dated Massie. The only girl Cam had dated was...Claire.

Massie Block decided that Claire Lyons was going to **die**.

::

"Oh, I love this song!" Claire exclaims, motioning to the Grieg sonata that Mr. Newick had just passed out. She's too happy to realize that for once, she's gotten the solo, that Claire doesn't know that Massie Block isn't sitting next to her anymore.

Poor-innocent-naive Claire doesn't remember the fight.

Another person slides into Massie's seat. "Never heard of it," he smoothly says, his voice cracking a little at the end. "God, this whole acting-so-cool-and-smooth thing's really not that easy, is it?" It's a self-deprecating joke, and Claire can't help but laugh.

"Cam Fisher," she muttered. "Who would have thought?"

::

At lunch, Massie overhears another conversation. She spends most of her time eavesdropping because everybody knows that Alicia's with Josh in the drama room, and that Kristen and Kemp are playing soccer, and that Dylan and Todd are "busy". Duh.

It starts of with a yell. "What the hell, man? I thought we were friends," Derrick yells, shoving Cam off of his seat.

Cam only shrugs. "What did I do?" There's a mischievous glance in his eyes, though. He knows exactly what he did.

"I li-hell, no. I **love** Claire Lyons, and then you just flirt with her?" Derrick looks as though he's about to fall apart, and Massie wishes that she could be the person to fix back the pieces of his heart, but dear god, it's a one-sided love.

_(Love is a ruthless game, even when you play it good and right.)_

::

She's on the outside_. (I am forever searching high and low, but why does everybody tell me no)_

For the first time in her pampered, prissy life, Massie Block is on the outside, looking in -she should have expected that when she left K.I.S.S. -that beautiful British academy with the sweetest boyfriend in the world and a castle-.

But, it just wasn't the same as Westchester.

Change is good. but not for Massie Block, who can't help but think that she was happier back in K.I.S.S with James, and Hannah, and Ashley, and all of her other British friends who were so much more real than the Pretty Committee. She thinks that everything will be the same when she comes back from Britain: she'll be the alpha of her little clique once more.

A reminder snaps her back into her reality on the first hour of an august morn': it's where she bumps into Derrick Harrington, her ex-boyfriend.

She laughs, a delicate little thing, and he can't help but be reminded of one of those flowers:** the lily of the valley.**

::

It's always been the two of them: the inseparable childhood friends that were fated to end up in a relationship, somehow, some-day. Claire Lyons and Derrick Harrington were now _ClaireandDerrick_ and _DerrickandClaire._

Then Massie Block comes back. She's the exact opposite of Claire: bold and sassy _(it rhymes with her name)_ and not afraid to do whatever she wants to do -Derrick won't say it, but Claire knows that it's not the same anymore, and there's nothing that she can do-.

She tells him that while they're clearing up the old business office, trying to ignore the sounds of a glass vase crashing in the distance, and the client storming out -but none of this mattered-. All that mattered was the two of them: here, and now.

**Forever & always.**

"I can't do this anymore."

He doesn't even look up from cleaning. "What, Claire?" Derrick sounds exasperated, and Claire can't help but think about the old days where he would look at her with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I'm breaking up with you."

This time, he looks up. "_W-what_? What did I do?"

"It's not you. It's not me. It's her. **Massie."** A flash of love crosses his eyes.

"There's nothing going on between us," Derrick lies.

"No. I've been watching from the sidelines since she got here, and I-I" Her voice breaks, and Derrick just wants to hold her and tell her that everything would be alright, but that would just be another lie. "I can't do _this_ anymore."

He can't let her go. "But what about _everything_ we've been through?"

This time, when she speaks, Claire's voice is cold. "There is no _we_."

::

There's at least a hundred girls out there, but the only one he's looking at is her -_simpleplainstrangeold_ her-.

"We can start with forever," he drawls into Massie's ear, mimicking her British accent.

Massie just wraps your arms around his neck and rests her face into Derrick's shoulder, trying to wipe away the tears forming in her eyes.

"Massie? What's wrong?" He lifts her face up and looks at it with concern. "What happened?" A determined look crosses his face. "Whoever did this -I'll make them pay."

Massie laughs, a real honest laugh, not one of those high-pitched giggles that she's forced to put on for the crowd (_letting it go/turning my cheek for the sake of the show)_, because as cheesy as it sounds, she's only truly herself with him. "Everything, stupid."

He looks at her, a mixture of confusion and happiness in his eyes, as if he's still trying to figure out what's going on -because, around her, everything's like a whirlwind, like a tornado, too fast for anybody sane to comprehend _(it's a good thing he's insane_)-. He looks at her, and suddenly it hits him. "I'm in love."

"What?" she asks, throwing a few droplets of water into her hair -the whole gymnasium feels even more cramped, because apparently to promote school unity, AND had to be invited to the BOCD tenth grade dance-. In her pure white dress with some tinges of purple _(he's never been good at the whole fashion thing_), Derrick thinks that she looks like an angel. _(you're in the arms of an angel/ may you find some comfort here)._

"I love you."

"I love you too."

And suddenly, the words aren't so hard to say anymore.

::

The next day, Derrick Harrington, like the loyal puppy he is goes back to Claire Lyons, all because ever since Massie left, she's number one.

**She's perfect, and Massie's not even worth it.**

Perhaps for one night, one perfect night, everything was just the way it was supposed to be. Perfection doesn't exist, though. Massie walks into the drama room, only to find one of her best friends on the floor, crying.

Cam Fisher is crying. "_W-what_ kind of messed up person breaks up with somebody over a text message?" It seems as though he's talking to himself, but Massie knows better.

She pats his shoulder reassuringly, and holds him tight. "It's going to be okay, Cam. It's going to be okay."

(The kids will never be alright.)

::

**Claire Lyons** is now in a relationship with **Derrick Harrington.**

**Josh Hotz,** **Dylan Marvil**, and **52** others like this.

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**Massie Block** is now in a relationship with **Cameron Fisher.**

**Kristen Gregory, Claire Lyons,** and **38** others like this.

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(Massie wishes that there was a dislike button.)

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(Scratch that. A hate button.)

::

Sure, they had all met their soul mates in the eighth grade. They just didn't end up with each other.


End file.
